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The
case involving the Sea View Koh Chang hotel and American teacher
Wesley Barnes has drawn new scrutiny to Thailand's criminal
defamation and computer crimes laws, which rights activists say
are far too harsh.
The Sea View Koh Chang said in an e-mail that mediation had been
set for Oct. 8 with Barnes, who works in Thailand.
"It seems like the hotel is ready to settle," Barnes said in a
message to Reuters. "I will meet them next week to hopefully end
this case once and for all. It would be wonderful to have this
behind us."
Police said Sea View Koh Chang had filed a complaint in August
after Barnes posted what the hotel described as "false and
defamatory reviews" on TripAdvisor and Google after a row over a
500 baht ($16) corkage fee.
The hotel said it had reported the reviews to Tripadvisor and
that some of them were deleted by the site administrator.
Barnes was detained on Sept. 12 and released two days later
after posting bail, the island's police said.
Under Thailand's criminal defamation and computer crimes acts,
he could be fined up to 100,000 baht ($3,200) as well as facing
jail time.
Barnes has defended reviews he had posted, saying the service
had been bad and the restaurant manager was aggressive. He said
Tripadvisor did not publish some of his comments.
Tripadvisor has temporarily suspended submissions of reviews of
the hotel.
The site said it was investigating the incident with the U.S.
Embassy in Thailand.
"Tripadvisor is opposed to the idea that a traveller can be
prosecuted for expressing opinions," it said in an e-mail to
Reuters.
(Editing by Matthew Tostevin and Martin Petty)
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